


Dirty Vegas

by Camucia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A/B/O, Alcohol, Alpha Ben Solo, Alpha Kylo Ren, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Ben Solo has a terminal case of foot in mouth syndrome, F/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, More banter than angst, No Pregnancy, Nontraditional a/b/o dynamics, Omega Rey (Star Wars), Rey is quick to anger and quick to forgive, So basically canon Ben and Rey, Woke Up Married, a/b/o dynamics, banter and angst, because they’re both plastered, overly realistic depictions of terrible professional learning, they're terrible at flirting and small talk, vague mention of child abuse, woke up mated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:33:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29483001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camucia/pseuds/Camucia
Summary: Getting invited to the national career tech teacher’s conference in Las Vegas was one of Rey's greatest achievements as a second year educator, thank you very much. Never mind the fact that her less-than-stellar school could only afford to send her due to extensive grant money, and that the only reason she even got this job was because so few people could even teach the content.As long as she was as far away as possible from that horrible Alpha from the rival school, Ben Solo.A woke-up-mated fic through the lens of someone who has gone to more of these conferences and competitions than they ever wanted to in their life.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 68
Kudos: 234
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpaceWaffleHouseTM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWaffleHouseTM/gifts).



From her first moment of consciousness, Rey’s head was filled with a familiar muzzy fog of half-formed thoughts. 

It was a cozy place to be, as long as one remained horizontal. The place where you’re not quite sure if you’re still dreaming, or maybe still a little drunk. Where those little traitorous thoughts of _“well, if I just sleep a little longer, all of these problems will be solved”_ sound like better and better ideas. The bed is warm, your head is heavy, and things are only worse if you commit to getting up. 

The first sense to truly be awake was smell. As an Omega, it was a sense that was usually an irritant at best, with the potential to be downright disgusting. But right now, everything just smelled _right._ Like comfort, safety, and home. Her sense of smell was doing nothing to convince her to leave this absolutely _delicious_ bed. 

But the sense of sound woke up next, and Rey was distantly aware of the trickle of running water… somewhere. And that presented a more urgent biological issue.

Sitting up was a mistake. Opening her eyes was a bigger one.

Everything was dark.

“I’ve gone _blind-”_ Rey croaked, her hand shooting to press at her throbbing temples, only to find… plastic.

  
  


Confusion cut through the headache just long enough to snatch off the offending item. Sunglasses. Men’s sunglasses, aviators - and expensive, by the weight of them. She had never worn sunglasses in her _life,_ yet-

_“I’m not sure what you were expecting, on an open-air tour bus in Vegas-”_

A sharp pang at the very center of her forehead cut off the recollection. Shit, how much had she _drank_ last night-

_“If you don’t slow down on that, you’re not going to have any room for the buffet-”_

Bits and pieces were coming back. The conference. The summer teacher conference… thing. She had flown in yesterday morning, gone to the mandatory registration, and an infuriating three-part session. Of course it was in bloody Las Vegas. Her school only paid for the room because- 

_“You sure your roommate isn’t going to miss you?”_

-because she was splitting it Rose Tico, the engineering teacher. They flew together, checked in together, and had already gotten to know each other better in a couple hours than they had in two years of teaching in the same school-

_“...half the staff of Alderaan Memorial High. Hoping to get a leg up on the competition this year?”_

  
  


After the mandatory conference activities were over, the equally mandatory “fun” had started. Rey didn’t want anything to do with typical Las Vegas activities, so she went… somewhere else, with - with _him._ Of _course_ _he_ was the only other one who didn’t want to go gambling with the rest of the group. But then, something - _something_ happened. Rey groaned, stretching to rub at her neck-

_“God, you’re sure? I’ve wanted this for ages, but Rey, you only just said tonight-”_

What.

The fog in her brain vanished. Her hand was frozen, her fingertips just barely grazing over the tender, freshly-scarred skin. Shaking, she slowly lifted her left hand, which had felt a little heavier than usual-

A massive, two carat diamond ring sparkled at her, its light obnoxious and terrifying. Her headache seemed to double, and she was quite certain that the squeaking noise she just noticed was coming from her lungs as she teetered on the edge of an asthma attack. 

On the other side of the room, a door swung open to emit a thick cloud of steam, issuing a massive BANG as the door slammed against the wall. A hulking figure staggered out, grasping a comically tiny hand towel to cover himself.

“Rey?! Sweetheart, I felt you-”

That _delicious_ smell amplified, carried by the fog of a hot shower. Rey didn’t even need to squint to know who stood on the other side of the room, his broad shoulders, sleek black hair, and _stupid_ tallness giving him away in an instant.

“YOU!”

“Rey, what’s wrong?”

“You - you - _you!_ You’re wrong! You mated - _me?!”_

Ben Solo, the absolute _bastard,_ had the nerve to lean against the wall with a cocky grin, seeming irritatingly calm at the situation. “Well, not yet, baby. Though it was _very_ hard to convince you we should sleep on that particular choice.”

“But it - what - _mated?!?”_ Rey sputtered indignantly.

His eyes darkened, and the dimples of his grin deepend as he slowly crossed the room to sit next to her on the bed. 

“Oh? So _now_ you’ve decided to be traditional about this. Sorry, sweetheart, but you know we’ve got to wait until your heat to make this _official_ -official.” He leaned toward her as his massive hands slowly tugged at the sheets- “Though we could certainly, ah, _encourage_ that to start a little sooner, if you’re up for it?”

Recoiling, Rey covered herself with the blanket. “The only thing I’m _up for,_ Mr. Solo, is my _foot_ up your _ass_ if you so much as _think_ about taking that towel off, let alone getting one _inch_ closer to me!”

He immediately backed off, raising his hands as though in surrender. “Rey, I don’t understand, last night-”

_“I don’t remember last night!”_

He didn’t look crushed, defeated, or despondent, as she hoped. Instead, Ben Solo of Chandrila Technical High School looked determined, chewing the inside of his mouth in thought as his intense eyes refused to leave hers.

“Get your phone, Rey.”

She must have looked completely lost, because he repeated himself.

“Get your phone, and check your last dialed number.”

Not trusting to break his gaze, Rey blindly groped for her phone on the bedside table. She attempted to unplug it single handedly for several awkward seconds before giving up and diverting her attention to the screen. She swiped and scrolled, until-

“It says… ‘Future Husband.’”

Rey tapped on the contact, pulling up a portrait of Ben Solo twisted around in a bus seat, giving the camera a stern glare. The tiniest hint of a smile teased at the corners of his generous mouth, and the glare from an intense sunset streaked through the whole image.

Solemnly, Ben handed her his unlocked phone. “Check mine.”

The call list was already pulled up. With a shaking hand, Rey tapped the contact information for “Future Wife.” In the tiny, circular portrait, she could see her own head tipped back in laughter, with the corner of Ben’s nose and mouth just enough in frame to be seen kissing her forehead.

“Now, I don’t remember everything from last night, Rey, but I don’t think we were kidding around with these.” Ben leaned toward her, cautiously reaching toward her face. Stunned, Rey let him. “Or this,” he added quietly, his fingertip ghosting over her gland. 

She shivered, shaking her head slightly. “I don’t want to think… Ben, I - I remember bits and pieces, but-”

“Do you know what I remember most of all, Rey? Besides how beautiful you were, and how lucky I am?” He traced his fingers under her jaw, bringing her to face him fully. “I remember that _you_ would not stop taking pictures and videos. For the _entire night.”_

Rey froze at the heavy implication of his words. “You don’t mean-”

“Oh yes, Rey. Plug that phone back in and get comfortable, because we’re about to revisit absolutely _everything_ we did last night. Because I am _not_ about to have you conveniently forget how we ended up with a courting bond.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please peer pressure me into writing fic again, this was massively comforting


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first picture on Rey's camera roll from June 21st is a selfie so professional-looking, it was good enough for Linkedin.

_You know, I’m doing pretty well for me,_ Rey attempted to convince herself as she strode toward the packed conference registration area. Scrolling through the selfies she just took, she could almost believe that she was an actual _adult._

The heels that she forced herself wear clacked impressively against the smooth tile floor, even though they were absolutely crushing her toes. It was worth the extra couple of inches that allowed her to tower over even some of the Alphas who couldn’t help but give her a second or third glance. Rey knew she looked good - one would never guess that everything from her wrap dress to her rolling suitcase came from Goodwill.

It didn’t matter that she was bone tired, had woken up so early it was late, and spent the first four hours of her day on a plane. She was only 23, and already invited to the largest convention for career and technology teachers in the country. 

Well, of course, every teacher in her school was invited - some grant came through, paying for the hotel, airfare, and conference fees for all six of Alderaan Memorial High’s career tech teachers to attend the national CATE conference. AMH would have never been able to afford sponsoring its teachers to attend something like this, struggling public school that it was.

And as far as how Rey even got the job as a young female Omega with nothing but an associate’s degree to her name... Well, to say that what Rey taught was a specialty subject was putting it very mildly. There was only one other teacher in her entire region who covered Print Shop anymore, and he was an entirely different breed altogether - to say he was even a _teacher_ and not some horrible supreme _asshole-_

Steeling herself, Rey blew out a long exhale. That was in the past. She was here to learn, make connections, and make herself a better teacher, after all.

 _I belong here,_ she told herself again.

“Rey! Over here!”

Startled from her thoughts, Rey peered around the packed atrium, seeing a familiar floppy yellow hat being waved frantically in the air.

Grinning, Rey elbowed her way through the thicket of bodies at the conference registration to find Rose Tico - Alderaan Memorial’s enthusiastic, but tiny, engineering teacher. 

“There you are! That took ages!”

“Sorry, Rose. I think we weren’t the only ones to think to divide and conquer, hotel check-in was a nightmare. But at least we’ve got everything squared away.”

Rose winced, looking apologetic. “Yeah, about that…”

Rey immediately felt crushed. “Oh no, was there a problem with registration? Are we not on the list? Did we do something wrong-”

“No, no, nothing like that! They just won’t let you check in for other people, apparently. I guess some people try to sign in for folks who don’t actually come to these things, just to get the certificate credits.”

That threw Rey. “Why on earth would anyone do that?”

Rose’s grin was wry. “You’ve never been to something like this, have you?” Obviously, Rose took Rey’s perplexed face as confirmation. “You’ll see. Just sign up for the things you _have_ to do, take the free stuff, don’t put down your real email address, and make sure you go to the “fun” events - that’s the only time anyone worthwhile will remember seeing you anyway.”

“I… I see?”

“Great! So where are we?”

“Oh, sorry, here-” Rey struggled with her purse, attempting to dig out the hotel keys that had somehow already wedged themselves deep in the main pocket.

“Rey! Rose!”

Glancing up briefly, Rey registered two more of Alderaan Memorial’s teachers approaching them, the NJROTC instructor Commander Finn Troupe and robotics teacher Poe Dameron. While Rey and Rose had been grouped together as AMHS’s only female career tech teachers, Rey had a sneaking suspicion that those two, a seemingly well-matched Alpha and Omega pair, had requested a room together.

“Did you guys look at the schedule? It’s brutal, there’s three breakout sessions today alone. It’s almost like they don’t want us having any fun.” Finn sighed dejectedly. 

Poe sauntered up to Rose, elbowing her playfully. “It’s ok, at least I’ll have my -” he made a dramatic point to consult the conference schedule - “ _‘Exciting Opportunities in Mechanical Systems Careers’_ buddy with me for the _entire_ conference!”

Rose rolled her eyes, sighing. “It’s your fault for teaching something so specialized, they don’t know where to put you except for engineering.”

“No, it’s _great._ When else would I get my syllabus written if not for thrillingly informative sessions like- _‘What is Mechatronics?’_ ” 

Finn shook his head, smiling sympathetically. “Rey, you’ve got to be in the same situation. Who did they put you with?”

“Oh, I - I don’t know, I haven’t been to one of these, and I still need to get registered. I’m not even sure-”

“You’re over here, with me.”

A chill fell over the group at the unmistakably Alpha voice that interrupted them.

Ben Solo. M.B.A., print management teacher at Chandrila Technical High School, and six foot four inches of absolute _asshole_ Alpha. He loomed over the group like an overgrown bat, his black jacket, black tie, and black shirt standing out starkly against the brightly lit conference hall. His eyes were locked on Rey, staring down his long nose directly at her. Even in her heels, he still managed to have half a head of height on her. Of _course_ he also travelled from eight states away just to make her life miserable again.

“Rey Johnson - and apparently half the staff of Alderaan Memorial High. Are you all hoping to get a leg up on the competition this year?”

Finn gave a snort of laughter that didn’t reach his eyes. “Solo. Did Phasma and Hux make it this year, or is their program still banned?”

Solo’s dark eyes held Rey’s glare a moment too much longer before turning to acknowledge Finn. “Commander Troupe. I’m sure Captain Phasma and Commander Hux will be _thrilled_ to see their former coworker after that stunt you pulled in the spring.” 

Finn folded his arms, squaring his shoulders even more. “All I did was make some technicalities regarding your _esteemed_ school apparent to the judges. You’re one to talk after what you did to Rey-”

“What do you mean, what _I_ did to _her?_ I don’t determine how these things are run-”

“Oh, please, we both know that Chandrila Tech practically makes the rules for nearly all the career tech competitions these days-”

“We run a superior program, and obviously standards needed to shift across the board to accommodate standard practices and modern equipment-”

“Sure, I guess you’d know all about _‘shifting standards’_ to fit whatever someone wants, wouldn’t you, Solo?” 

The air quickly grew acrid with clashing Alpha pheromones, causing Rey to recoil, and Poe to place a reassuring hand on Finn’s shoulder. They just _had_ to fight about… _that_ incident.

“Cool it, you two. Honestly, you’re as bad as the kids!” Rose chided, stepping between the two Alphas.

Rey shook her head, trying to clear her nose from the incredibly confusing scent. “Rose, here’s your key. I’ve got to go figure out registration.”

She didn’t get more than a few quick strides away before a massive hand gently grasped at her wrist. Rey snatched her hand away, spinning to face a perturbed-looking Ben Solo.

“What do _you_ want?” Rey had to stop herself from practically hissing at him.

“Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to grab you, but - you’re going the wrong way.” Visibly swallowing with nerves, he gestured slightly behind himself. “We’re over here.”

It was a smaller conference room labeled “Graphics, Video, and Print Production Registration,” with a relatively short line outside. Rey shouldered her way past Solo without a word, stomping over to the end of the line.

Of course, he was right behind her.

“Ms. Johnson, there’s something I-”

Struggling to keep her voice low, Rey just barely managed to whisper - “What?! What is it? Haven’t you had enough? Can’t you just please, _please_ just let it go?”

“But that’s exactly what I-”

“It was bad enough that your team had to embarrass my kids like that. It’s not their fault they’ve never used a “digital press,” they were supposed to be competing on offset press! Those kids know darkrooms and mixing ink, they don’t know the first thing to do with a glorified copier! You just _had_ to change the rules, didn’t you?”

“Honestly, I didn’t know-”

“And if that wasn’t bad enough, you had to utterly humiliate me in front of my kids and the judges, saying that my associate’s degree was ‘good enough for fifty year old equipment.’ Look, I _know_ that my school doesn’t have the newest stuff, and I’m more than aware that I don’t have your lofty _qualifications-”_

“Is _that_ what I - I mean, that’s not what I meant - that’s why I offered you our older ColorQube, then I could teach you-”

“You see! _That!_ That’s your problem, this ridiculous, outdated, presumptive, knot-headed Alpha attitude of yours! You keep assuming I want anything to do with you or your program after how you behaved! I don’t want your charity, my school doesn’t need your hand-me-downs, and I _certainly_ don’t want _you_ teaching me!” 

“Next, please!”

Rey turned sharply on her heel, forcing a smile on her face. “Rey Johnson, checking in for Alderaan Memorial High School - in Georgia?”

Fortunately, the woman at the counter seemed blissfully unaware of the tension in the air around her. She handed Rey a thick folder and a dangling name tag with a genuine smile. “Print Production, right? We’ve got you checked in now, and have your conference packet right here. Make sure you keep track of your freebies, there’s a big one tonight!” 

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to do that,” Rey assured her as she turned to very blatantly walk past Ben Solo, her eyes quickly scanning her schedule to find where she needed to go for her first session - 

_-no._

This couldn’t… Rey felt herself practically trembling in fury as she turned to glare at Ben Solo once again.

He looked genuinely chastened. “Ms. Johnson, this is why I wanted to talk before-”

  
“Do you care to explain why you’re leading _every single breakout session I have to go to?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I heartily condone the bullying that got me to work this fast. Please keep it up!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A terribly framed selfie taken by her boss, seven minutes of video of a printer salesman visibly restraining himself from punching Ben Solo, a selfie in a cute little black dress, and a picture of a double decker, open air bus.

It was probably less than professional to have a whisper-shouting match in the middle of a hotel atrium, much less one between an Alpha and an Omega. 

In an attempt to avoid drawing more of an audience than they already did, Solo had practically herded Rey into the conference room for the first breakout session, with the promise that he could somehow explain himself. He made a very deliberate point of propping open the door of the small space - there was no need to make the _situation_ in the poorly-ventilated area worse than it already was. 

Rey leaned against the door frame, her hand clutched on the handle of her rolling suitcase, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. _Damn_ Solo and his Alpha pheromones, thinking he would be able to calm her down with nothing but his… particular scent alone. 

“Well?” she asked, tapping her foot theatrically. 

At least Solo had the grace to look guilty, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants as he shifted his weight nervously. 

“Look, I didn’t mean for it - I mean, I needed to make sure I was in the room with you at least once so we could talk. So I signed up for every slot they had available. I had no idea that no one else would sign up to lead anything.”

“It didn’t occur to you that maybe no one else signed up because you took all the slots?”

His mouth hung open somewhat stupidly, before he snapped it shut with a frown. “...no.”

“And it didn’t _possibly_ cross your mind that no one would want to take a session away from the great Ben Solo from Chandrila Tech, here to bestow us with his nationals-winning knowledge?”

Solo stomped to the back of the room, clutching at the podium set up there. The wood creaked slightly under his apparent death grip. “I just wanted to apologize to you, Ms. Johnson. I don’t care about any of the rest of this.”

“Well that must be nice for you. You travelled across practically the entire country just because you wanted to _talk_ to me? My school had to spend a whole year writing grants to get us here, and I was really looking forward to learning-”

“-and I can teach you-”

“-there you go again! Well you can just _forget it-”_

  
Unexpectedly, a warm hand clapped on her shoulder. “Rey! Here you are, I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

Rey felt her stomach drop as she winced in retrospect at her volume and tone. Of course. Of _course_ her department AP was here. 

“M-Mr. Skywalker, what the - I mean it’s so good to see you - I didn’t know that administrators came to these conferences-”

Luke Skywalker, the beloved longtime assistant principal of Alderaan Memorial High, threw back his head in laughter. “Are you kidding me? Who would miss a free Vegas trip? Hold on-” he fumbled with his phone for a minute, pulling up the camera. “Selfie for the school Twitter! There’s still a chunk of that grant money we won’t get until we can prove we actually came!”

Rey found herself more cringing than smiling as her much-shorter assistant principal snapped what was surely a terrible picture that went straight up her nose, but at least she wouldn’t have to see it-

_*ting,*_ Rey’s phone chimed ominously.

“I just “air dropped” that to you, Rey. Kids taught me that last year when they kept filling up my phone with mee-mees during lunch. You shouldn’t have your phone set to accept those from anyone - I learned _that_ that the interesting way.” 

“I’m… sure,” Rey replied cautiously, immediately setting her Airdrop to ‘contacts only.’

Mr. Skywalker sighed happily, glancing around the conference room. “Should be a good time here, at least. Vegas is always a great trip. Alderaan hasn’t been able to come to this thing in years - in fact, last time I was here, _this_ guy was practically still in diapers.”

It took Rey a second to realize that Mr. Skywalker somehow seemed to be referring to Ben Solo. “Wait, how do you two…?”

“You’re kidding, right? He’s my sister’s kid - you know, Leia Organa, on the school board? And of course, you already knew he’s Han’s kid!”

Rey felt her eye twitch as yet another piece of why she detested Ben Solo fell into place. She knew he was Leia Organa and Mr. Solo's son. Han Solo, her wonderful mentor teacher who showed her the ropes, trusting her with complete control of his print shop classes in her student teaching year, so he could return to his beloved auto mechanics program. He had… _mentioned_ Ben, briefly - always seeming so sad, so disappointed. Upon meeting the man in question, Rey certainly understood why. 

So of course Ben would just happen to _also_ be related to Luke Skywalker, AMHS’s indispensable, loving, (hippie) administrator, as well as Leia _freaking_ Organa, senator, board of ed chairwoman, and Omega rights champion. Every opportunity and chance in the world, and he chose to be an unrepentant, horrible _snob._

“I’m sorry, Mr. Skywalker, but Han didn’t make much of a point to talk about family with me. I didn’t realize you all were related,” Rey said carefully. She and Han both had their reasons they didn’t talk about family. One of them was scowling at her from behind a podium. 

“Huh, guess the family connections are a little harder to keep track of when everyone’s got different last names,” Mr. Skywalker seemed to ponder as he scratched at his slightly unkempt beard. “Though I know Han wasn’t exactly… _present_ for a lot of your student teaching year-”

“-somehow, that doesn’t surprise me,” Solo muttered, crossing his arms defensively.

Luke turned to glare at who was apparently his nephew. “You know, I’ve said it a thousand times, but your dad had that position waiting for you. We all did. If Rey hadn’t come along, we would have had to shut the whole thing down.”

“So I’ve heard. Lucky you found Ms. Johnson, then. Can’t imagine it was easy to get someone who would _want_ to run that prehistoric lab, let alone do it well.” Solo made a very deliberate show of slamming his suitcase on a flimsy-looking table. He zipped it open with more aggression than was warranted, and started unspooling seemingly miles of extension cords. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I have a breakout session to run.”

“Uh huh, _sure._ Rey, you ride that man hard-” 

Rey swore her temperature must have risen about twenty degrees and her stomach fell to her feet- 

“-and pick him over for every bit of information you can get out of him. I mean it. I want your kids to beat his at state so hard next year, _they’re_ the one who go home crying. But you be careful - he’ll turn you to the dark side if you let him!” Luke said with a smile and a wave as he ducked out of the room. 

Solo continued furiously unloading what must have been a nearly bottomless suitcase. He had somehow produced two projector screens, laptops, and projectors, and kept stomping all around the room to find outlets for his knot of cords. Rey allowed herself two steps further into the room, choosing to sit on the chair closest to the door. 

“I believe you were in the middle of a terrible apology, but I’ve got to ask - just what on earth did Mr. Skywalker mean by - ‘the dark side?’”

Solo sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head. “Because I teach at a charter, because I worked for a textbook publisher, because I’m an Alpha, because I didn’t want to end up at AMHS - take your pick. According to him, I’ve done nothing but disappoint the family.”

Rey was somehow even more confused. “But Han always said… _why_ didn’t you want to work at AMHS?”

Solo rolled his eyes - “Of course, working for Alderaan Memorial, everyone’s dream. Are you saying you’d want to work in your overbearing family’s shadow every single day?”

Feeling a stab of old hurt, Rey recoiled somewhat. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t have any family.”

He visibly winced, seeming to make himself look as small as a massive Alpha like him could. “Oh shit, I mean - god, I’m so sorry, it’s just-” he pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply. “This isn’t how I wanted any of this to go. Please, let me explain myself.”

Rey glanced around the room, noting the placard indicating that their first breakout session was supposed to start soon. “In the interest of clearing the air, _fine.”_

“I felt terrible about what happened to your students back at State. I honestly had no idea they changed the print competition to all digital press until we were there, same as you. As far as I knew, there were going to be four competitions - digital, offset, screen, and color calibration.”

Rey opened her mouth to object, but Solo pressed on- 

“You _know_ that at Regions, they were all still separate. I assumed we’d both enter our teams at State, and my students would be the shoe-ins for digital, and yours obviously would beat mine in offset. I was ready to train my team to be competitive with yours in color calibration and screen printing, but I definitely wasn’t optimistic.”

“How were you not optimistic?? They straight up said they based the competition on the equipment _you_ use in _your_ lab!”

“I swear, I had no idea. You have to believe me. There’s industry reps who come to my school all the time, I never knew they were taking notes for how to set up state competitions from my lab.”

“Finn seemed to know,” Rey snarled. Her indignation was at war with her instincts - against all odds, Solo… _smelled_ like he was being utterly truthful. 

“Yeah, well Troupe worked at Chandrila Tech long enough to suspect that. He and I both knew Chandrila’s administration was willing to look the other way for ROTC competitions, they’d been kicking out kids who couldn’t physically cut it for years. I didn’t know they started messing with my program, too.” Solo shook his head with a look of genuine disgust. “I knew Luke applied for the grant for you all to go here this year. So when this conference started looking for speakers, I signed up for every print production slot they had so I could have a chance to make it right, and a chance to apologize to you.”

Rey lifted a single eyebrow. “Go on.”

“I never meant to insult you or your training, Rey. I was trying to say that it’s amazing that you know how to do the actual _art_ of printing, and on that ancient-ass press at your school. This isn’t even really my area - I mean hell, I spent ten years doing textbook _publishing,_ not printing-”

“Wait, wait. When you said my associate’s degree was _‘good enough for 50 year old equipment,’_ that was supposed to be a _compliment?”_

He winced. “I’m not good at... _this,_ in case you haven’t noticed. I just couldn’t believe that you don’t even have a bachelor’s-”

“There you go again! Just because I didn’t go to a four-year-”

“AGH!” Solo buried his face in his hands. His next words were muffled. “I mean that after I saw you doing that screen printing demo back during Regionals, I assumed you had an M.F.A., _at the very least.”_

That… didn’t seem right. No one could _possibly_ think that of her. “Really?” Rey asked, incredulous. 

“Of course! Here you were, this young, talented, ome- _ama_ zing woman _,_ the one I had heard so much about. I was used to having my kids win digital _and_ traditional competitions, regardless of their actual skill. I was _terrified_ that my students would have to compete against students who learned from someone like you.” 

“...oh,” Rey said in a small voice. She felt a distinct heat to her cheeks at the raw and honest flattery, coming from the person she had least expected to ever hear a compliment from. “But you said that my kids shouldn’t have even _been_ there-”

“And they shouldn’t have been! Offset and digital printing have been two separate competitions since I was in school, screen printing used to only do darkroom, and color calibration was _always_ manual in the past. By all rights, both our programs should have gone to Nationals.”

“And you seemed so - so _angry-”_

“Well yeah, I was pissed off, but never at you _._ You weren’t the only one who prepared for traditional competition. I spent three thousand bucks of my own money to buy a press and darkroom equipment at the last minute, and spent the two months between Region and State relearning darkroom so that my team could even stand a _chance_ against yours in screen printing. I assumed we'd both be at Nationals, no question.”

A couple other teachers started filing into the room. Looking irritated, Solo moved to the back of the room to stand closer to Rey. He procured a massive roll of duct tape, and started noisily tearing off long pieces, presumably to muffle his words. 

“When they changed up the competition, it wasn’t fair to my program or yours, and it was completely unprofessional.” Solo heaved an angry sigh, handing strips of tape to Rey, who automatically started accepting them. “But so was my reaction. I’m sorry if I came across as a complete asshole, I’ve been reliably informed that I am one.”

“I… I see,” Rey replied quietly. “What - what am I supposed to do with these?” 

“Tape these cords down to the carpet, so no one trips and sues me. I’m guessing Han never bothered going over OSHA violations with you? I know what that lab used to look like.”

Huffing, Rey knelt beside him to cover the trip hazard. “He went over the important things. And aren’t you supposed to be apologizing to me?”

He shrugged. “Asshole, like I said.”

Glancing up from where he taped down the final length of cord, he held Rey’s eyes with an intense gaze. “Look, I don’t know how else to say that I’m sorry about what happened at State. I’m sorry that I insulted your school and your education, I'm sorry if I made you or your students feel inferior in any way, and I deeply regret how I’ve treated you personally. I completely understand if you want nothing to do with me for the rest of this conference. I’ll sign off that you came to all the sessions and you can just leave-”

“No!” Rey quickly interjected. “I mean, I do actually want to learn-”

He snorted. “Just not from me?”

Rey gave a small smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I mean, you’re on thin ice, - but what kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t believe in second chances?”

He looked visibly relieved. “Thank you - just… Thank you, Ms. Johnson.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Solo-” Rey practically _felt_ both of them cringe at the same time at the awkwardness of that particular title and name. As they met each other's eyes with a wince, the air between them seemed to lighten as they shared a snort of almost-laughter. 

“Call me Ben?”

“If you’ll call me Rey. I hear ‘Ms. Johnson’ enough as it is.”

“Very well, _Rey,”_ Ben stood to his full height, offering his massive hand to her. “I hope we can look forward to a more amicable school rivalry.”

“Agreed- EEP!”

As Rey made to shake Ben’s hand, he pulled her to her feet instead. Unsteady on her high heels, she fell face-first into the broad expanse of his warm chest.

“God, sorry-” Rey made the mistake of gasping, her lungs filling with a full hit of the absolutely delectable scent that had been plaguing her-

”Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Rey _felt_ his low voice rumble through his chest. 

“I’m fine!” She said in an uncharacteristically squeak as she pushed herself back a couple steps. “Just, ah, a misstep.” 

Rey hurriedly unbuttoned her suit jacket, her hands desperate for something to busy themselves with as Ben suddenly seemed incredibly preoccupied with his phone. She found her salvation in the form of her crumpled conference schedule - three sessions, all labeled _‘Breakout - Comparative Digital Press Output with Ben Solo.’_ That was… vague. 

Clearing her throat primly, Rey attempted to divert attention from what had just happened. “What is it that you’ve got planned for these sessions, anyway?”

“I… may have invited sales reps from Xerox and Ricoh, and told them they had a captive audience of potential customers for a couple hours. But I didn’t tell either one that I invited their competition - I kind of want to just watch them panic or fight.” 

“...huh,” she replied, feeling doubtful that this would be at all useful to her.

“Well, I also figured that your school is in the market for a digital press. This way, you can hear about every single pitfall each major company has, since the salesmen are going to be desperate to make the other guy’s machine look bad.”

“You know damn well my school can’t afford anything like this,” Rey muttered with an embarrassed blush.

“I think you’ll find that for _you,_ their prices will be… quite reasonable.” 

“Really,” Rey replied flatly, not bothering to mask the derision creeping back in her tone. 

“Fifty bucks a month to lease a digital press, 10,000 clicks a month - maintenance, toner, substrates, and your choice of finishing equipment. I think even Alderaan Memorial can afford that for the value it would add to your program and your school. All you have to do is choose between these two companies, and they’re going to put on quite the display getting you to choose them.”

Once again, Rey felt the sting to her pride that came whenever she perceived something as a handout. “Look, Sol- _Ben_ , I told you, I don’t want your charity. Unless this is a deal offered to all of the other schools here, I’m not taking it.”

Ben ran his fingers through his hair, his face and scent shifting to reflect his sharp irritation. “Why do you feel like you have to keep fighting me on this? All I did was call in a couple favors from my publishing days. It’s not “charity” if I’m not giving you anything, is it?”

“I-”

“All I want is for us to be on equal footing, equipment-wise. By all rights we should be, we’re in the same county - but obviously, since Chandrila is a charter, that’s never going to happen. Just… please, Rey. Let me do this for you today, and you won’t have to deal with me again until we see each other for regions in January.”

* * *

  
_That_ turned out to be a lie. 

Rey should have known something like this would happen from the moment the “freebie” tonight ended up being casino credit. 

At least Rose didn’t press for more information when Rey said she wouldn’t be joining the rest of them at the hotel’s opulent on-site casino. All it took was _“gambling really isn’t my thing”_ for Rose to give her a sympathetic smile, assuring Rey that she’d pass along the message to Finn and the others so they wouldn’t go wondering where she was all night. 

Rose was also exceptionally helpful in figuring out what Rey should do instead - it took some combing through the conference packet to find the small text, but there was an alternate activity offered for those who didn’t want to take the casino credit. An open-air, double decker bus tour, where passengers were encouraged to hop on and off as they pleased, since the buses ran in a regular circuit down the main strip. It dropped off at casinos, of course, but Rey was excited to see more than a few sites, bars, and restaurants on the route that she had genuinely wanted to check out, even if it was only to look and not buy.

Rey figured she ought to at least dress the part of a tourist in Vegas going out on the town. A cute little black dress, belted and with pockets, perfect to wear with her ankle boots that were more than comfortable enough to walk in. She bought the dress in hopes of being able to use it as one of her “teacher dresses,” but it fell _just_ on the side of too-short-to-teach high school boys - but ideal for bus tours where she didn’t want to carry a purse. 

She snapped a quick mirror selfie on the way out of the hotel room, before putting the very most basic of basics in her pockets - her phone in one, drivers license, hotel key, and debit card in the other. Texting Rose the picture, with a short _“on my way out on the town! Send pics!”_ , she was determined to have a good time tonight, damn it all. 

So it was just typical of Rey’s life when there was only one other person in the lobby queued by the sign for “CTE CONFERENCE BUS TOUR.”

Because of course. Of _course_ it was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTINUE THE BULLYING
> 
> I WILL TRY TO GET TO THE SLOPPY DRUNKEN SEX BEFORE MONDAY


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A photo of Ben with sunlight streaming from behind him, and several dozen shots of the sunset reflected on the buildings along the Strip. It's getting hotter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's up here's 4k words of banter, angst, and more banter.

A war was going on in Rey’s mind.

Upon seeing who her only companion would be on the bus tour, her immediate thought was _Why is he here?_ _I’ll just go back to the room and watch TV all night._ A coward’s route, certainly - but it was immediately countered by her pesky Omega side, _why the hell are you avoiding him so much?!_ A paranoid part of her thought _Oh god, he already signed up for all those sessions to see me, what if he somehow knew I’d take the bus?_ , before quickly realizing that she hadn’t breathed a word about what she was doing tonight, and not even Rose knew the real reason she wasn’t joining her AMHS coworkers. 

In the end, it was her far more powerful, thrifty side who won the argument;  _ I am  _ **_not_ ** _ giving up something that was valued at $80 just because it might be awkward. _

Determined to have a good time, Rey strode up directly behind Ben Solo, who remained completely oblivious to her presence, staring at his phone. The man was still wearing his entirely black ensemble, jacket and all. He was the only person queued up by the sign for the tour - seemingly, this was going to be awkward no matter what. She cleared her throat pointedly-

“So, Bus tour, right?” 

Ben looked up, his eyes and scent holding a trace of panic. “... yep. Bus tour.”

Rey breathed a little sigh of relief. He seemed just as surprised to see her, so that crossed off her paranoid thoughts. Silence quickly filled the air between them. Their scents both went haywire. She had to make this not awkward, pick a topic,  _ any _ topic-

“Sure looks hot out there,” Rey said in a tone she hoped to communicate breeziness, and failing miserably. “Hope it’s air conditioned.”

“The bottom should be - I think it’s a double decker one, like in Austin Powers.”

Rey was immediately lost. “Austin Powers? Is that a film?”

“You know, Austin Powers - the James Bond parody? English spy frozen in the 60s, wakes up in the 90s? Dr. Evil? Mike Meyers?”

“...the guy who voiced Shrek?”

“Oh… you’re young,” Ben sighed wistfully. 

“I’m not  _ that _ young, I just haven’t watched that many old movies.”

“Old?! Austin Powers came out in like, 1997-”

“-I wasn’t even born in 1997!” 

_ “Jesus,  _ are you old enough to come on this tour?”

“I’ll have you know I’m twenty-three,  _ Ben,” _ Rey retorted hotly. “And I wasn’t aware there was an age restriction on a bus tour.”

“You know there’s a bar, right?”

As soon as he said that, an attendant came by to collect the sign, looking around the area expectantly. “Picking up for BigBus BoozeCruise - is this all of you?”

Rey and Ben hurriedly backed away from each other as though scolded. Somehow, getting right back to sniping at each other came naturally - yet Rey preferred it to the stilted awkwardness before. 

“I… I think so? Do you need this?” Rey handed over the small plastic pass given by the conference - good for $100 of chips in the casino, or $80 of… bus. 

“Yep, I’ll take those. Your conference seemed to think there would be more of you, they booked half the bus. Oh well, quieter ride for all of us, there’s only one other big group already on your bus. If you both will follow me, it should be here any-” 

The man paused briefly, nostrils flaring as his eyes landed on Rey. “-any minute now. Ma’am, can I speak to you for a moment?”

The bus attendant politely steered Rey away from Ben, who seemed to be radiating annoyance. They kept walking through the lobby and all the way outside to the pull-through loop in front of the hotel. In a hushed tone, he asked - “Ma’am, I’ll have to ask if you wouldn’t mind sitting on the top deck, there’s a pretty wasted bachelor party on the bottom that the driver probably doesn’t want turning into a brawl.”

“Ex _ cuse _ me?” Rey’s nerves, already on edge from arguing with Ben, fired up even more.

The attendant shrugged. “Just a fair warning. I’m an Omega myself, and there’s a reason I’m not working on this particular bus right now, too many old frat boys on enhancers for me. It would be different if you were with _that_ guy, but anyone with a nose can tell you’re not.”

“...oh,” Rey said somewhat miserably, shoulders drooping. She was  _ already _ sweating. The sun was about to start setting, but it was still about a hundred degrees outside, after all. 

Seeming to sense her disappointment, the man dug through his pocket, leafing through a veritable stack of coupons. “Here, it’s on me. Your pass covered two well drinks, and this’ll get you two more.”

“Well, ah, thank you, I suppose.”

“No worries. Stay safe tonight,” the attendant replied with a nod. “Something tells me you can ask your friend back there to keep an eye out, if you’re worried.”

“Oh, we’re not-”

Rey was immediately cut off by a massive  _ HONK HONK,  _ as well as a muffled chorus of  _ “Wooooooo!”  _ The bus had arrived.

* * *

It was a more professional affair than the name  _ ‘BigBus BoozeCruise’ _ implied. Rey’s drink order was taken as soon as she got on the bus, and she headed up the stairs amid more drunk cries of  _ “WOOOOOO!”  _ from the bachelor party on the main floor.

In retrospect, Rey appreciated the warning - the attendant back at the hotel wasn’t kidding about the acrid stench of Alphas out on a tear. She would have opted for sitting upstairs regardless.

Looking around to make sure she was alone, Rey took a quick sniff of herself. She didn’t… smell  _ off _ or anything, and she definitely took her suppressants last night. But with how irritable she had been, the way she felt around - it must have just been the different weather, she assured herself. She certainly didn’t feel  _ ‘WOOOOOO’- _ worthy, by any means. 

There was no escaping the heat on the exposed roof. Rey sat in the middle, taking a long moment to glare at the sun, which seemed to still have a good couple hours of heat left in it.  _ Damn, _ she knew she should have stolen Rose’s hat. The slight, wonderfully-scented breeze was the only reprieve from the blazing heat. She was glad she didn’t bring her “real” camera, the fear of overheating the poor thing would have been a real possibility up here. She let her eyes shut for a moment, silently begging the bus to start moving so the wind would pick up more.

“All right, upstairs folks - here’s your drinks before we take off! I have a whiskey, neat, with a cup of ice, and a vodka cranberry - miss is this one yours-?”

“Ah, no, I’m the whiskey,” Rey mumbled, squinting toward the source of the voice. She blindly reached out, each hand accepting a small plastic cup.  _ Excellent, _ as usual, asking for a neat pour resulted in getting far more than she would have gotten on the rocks. 

“So, sir, this is your-”

“Yeah, yeah, save your judgment, everyone loves a good pink drink,” grumbled a deep, familiar voice.

Rey chanced opening her eyes a little more to glare further ahead. Sure enough, Ben Solo was seated at the very front of the bus, positioning himself directly by the stairs. He looked slightly uncomfortable (of course he looked uncomfortable, the man was still wearing all black, but at least he had taken off the jacket and slung it over his arm). His sunglasses managed to obscure where, exactly, he was looking - but he was definitely pointed in her direction. 

The  _ nerve _ of him. Cups in hand, Rey waited before the bartender went back downstairs to stalk forward a few rows and give him a piece of her mind. 

“Why are you up here?”

He took a sip of his drink, tilting his head up to look at her with those inscrutable sunglasses. “Appreciating the view.”

“You know damn well it’s miserable outside, and anyone in their right mind would stay downstairs where it’s air conditioned.”

“Then why are  _ you _ here?”

“I think you know why I’m here,” Rey huffed, taking a sip of her whiskey.  _ Shit, _ she forgot to put some ice into it, it was  _ warm. _

He shrugged, “Then I can say the same. It reeked downstairs.”

“Sure, but why are you  _ here? _ You can barely see anything when you’re that close to the stairwell, it’s blocking half your view.” 

Ben shifted uncomfortably, tipping back a long drag of his drink, which looked cartoonishly small in his massive hand.  _ “They-were-trying-to-follow-you-up-here,” _ he mumbled in one breath.

“What?”

“Those drunk assholes, they were being- they said you were - they were going to-” Ben’s jaw twitched as he appeared to chew the inside of his mouth- _“-disgusting,”_ he finished his broken sentence as he polished off the rest of his drink in a single swallow.

“...oh. So they were-”

“Yep,” he replied.

“Well, ah, thank you, I suppose,” Rey responded somewhat numbly as her heart did some sort of weird straining. “So you’re-”

“You don’t need to thank me - this shouldn’t even - they’re all disgraces to Alphas. Figured if I sat up here, they wouldn’t bother you. So far, so good,” Ben muttered, swirling around his ice disappointedly. “You can go back to your seat, I’ll stay up here.”

“That’s ridiculous, come back here and sit with me so you can actually  _ see _ things,” Rey implored.

Ben seemed to look her up and down, a small smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. “Your eyes are barely open, squinting like that - how can you see  _ anything _ right now?”

“I’m fine, the sun will be down any- _ EEP!” _

Finally, the bus lurched forward, sending Rey stumbling… right into Ben’s arms. He braced her carefully as the bus rumbled forward, not holding her back or wrists too tight, and somehow even managing to keep her whiskey from spilling.

“I’ve got you,” he said softly, and far too close to her ear. 

“Ah, erm, thanks again, Ben,” Rey let herself be led back to the middle seats, her head somewhat foggy. It was vertigo from the sudden movement of the bus, surely.

He guided her to a seat, and took the seat directly in front of her. The breeze already was making the temperature more tolerable, but the sun-

_ “GAH!”  _ Rey flinched as the bus rounded a corner, angling the sun directly into her eyes.

“Having a good time? Seeing the sights?”

“Oh, shut up,” she muttered in the direction of Ben as she squinted her eyes completely shut.

“Take these.”

“What? No - what? No.” Rey wasn’t even sure what she was refusing at this point.

_ “Take these,” _ he implored as his voice taking on an entirely different tone. Automatically, Rey blindly reached out, feeling metal and plastic placed gently in her hands.

She chanced opening her eyes - sunglasses, aviators, nice ones. Putting them on, she looked back up at Ben with relief. “Thanks, but what about you?”

He had already reached into his jacket to pull out a pair of regular glasses, the lenses of which quickly started shifting to a darker shade. “I’m good.”

“Well, thanks again - here, since you’re already done with yours…” Rey tipped a few ice cubes into her whiskey cup, then poured a little whiskey back into the ice cup, handing it to Ben.

He seemed somewhat shocked at the gesture, slowly accepting the cup.

“That’s a good trick, asking for a neat pour and a cup of ice,” he eyed the drink appreciatively. “Looks like I’ll be drinking whiskey for the rest of the night, then.”

“What do you mean?”

“One day, you’ll get old like me, and find out that it’s not a good idea to drink every type of alcohol in a single night.” He raised his cup toward her, a single eyebrow raised slightly. “Cheers…?”

“To… a less adversarial night, I hope,” Rey tapped his cup with a disappointing clunk. “Though I can’t seem to stop being irritated with you.”

Ben took a sip, shaking his head with a small smile. “Don’t worry, it’s me, not you. I don’t get along with anyone.”

“Oh, hold on - do that again!” Rey wedged her cup between her knees, getting out her phone.

“Do what?”

“Look to your right…  _ perfect,”  _ Rey snapped the picture, quickly pulling it up to admire it.

“No one in their right mind has ever described a picture of me as ‘perfect.’”

“No, it is!”

“I made school photographers weep.”

“Seriously, Ben, look! It’s a perfect example of a natural lens flare. And you’re not half bad yourself,” Rey added boldly, pointing the phone screen toward him.

Ben seemed to pause for a moment, before he mutely held out his hand, taking the phone. “At least you can’t see my ears,” he sighed, tapping away on the tiny screen with his huge thumb. “Here.”

He handed the phone back to Rey. Immediately, she noticed that the photo was pulled up to create a new contact, with a number already inserted, and the name-

“ _ ‘Presumptive Knothead?’ _ ” she asked with a smile.

Ben shrugged, his own smile growing wider. “You called it, after all.” 

“Well, see to it that you earn yourself a better name by the end of the night,” Rey said primly.

“I’ll do my best,” he replied quietly.

  
  
  


A shockingly comfortable silence filled the air between them as the bus got closer to the more memorable parts of the strip. Distantly, a tour guide was describing the sights around them, but Rey was a little more focused on present company, as she quickly sipped her whiskey down to the ice.  _ Damn, _ she knew she should have stolen a second lunch box during the break, even this tiny drink was going right to her head. As they passed Circus Circus and started hitting the thick of the casinos, Rey felt the question spill out of her-

“So what are you here for?”

Ben seemed startled. “I’m sorry?”

“Why the bus and not the casino?”

Sipping his whiskey, Ben’s eyebrows crept above his glasses. “So we’re just getting right into it, huh?”

Rey rolled her eyes. “I despise small talk, and we seemed pretty bad at it earlier. Come on, surely it can’t be that bad.”

“It’s pretty bad.”

“My biological parents tried to sell me to pay off gambling debts before I was put in foster care.”

_ “Jesus, _ Rey. I don’t even - I mean, God, I’m so sorry-”

“It’s in the past, I can barely remember any of it. But that’s my point - yours can’t be much worse.”

“I mean, it sounds so stupid now, but…” Ben drained his drink, shaking his head. “Whenever my parents would fight - and it was a  _ lot _ \- my dad would always disappear off to Biloxi or Cherokee for a while. Sometimes, he was gone long enough that he’d forget when my mom had to go up to DC, so I got left with a family friend all the time.”

“Your dad - you mean Mr. Solo?” Rey asked with disbelief in her tone. From what little Rey heard about her, he always seemed over the moon about his wife, and certainly not the type to run off gambling for days at a time.

“Yeah, I mean Han. Look, I know you think he’s great and all-”

“-he was an amazing mentor!”

“Was he? Or did you just not know any better? Tell me, what,  _ exactly,  _ did he do when you started as his student teacher?”

“Well, he showed me how to do the basics - attendance, grade book, seating charts, fire drills - and then he let me take control of his print shop classes, while he was next door doing auto shop classes.”

“Uh huh. Now tell me, when did you become aware that what he did wasn’t technically legal?”

Rey’s mouth hung open, dumbstruck. “What?”

“You weren’t certified. You weren’t hired as a substitute. He asked to have print shop at the same time as auto shop, so his smart, starry-eyed student teacher could take over the class he never wanted to teach, and he could do whatever he wanted, as usual. The reason he got away with it is because the print shop room and the auto shop room are technically connected. Tell me, what was your average class size?”

“Thirty.”

“And his?”

“...maybe ten.”

“You see the problem? You deserved better.”

“No! Because that’s what I wanted! I asked for it! And I was  _ fine!” _ Rey retorted furiously. “I know you have your problems with him, but even though he was next door, he was there for me every step of the way. He sat in with every single parent phone call, he showed me how to connect with the students, and he’s kept supporting me like that even though I’m an actual teacher now. A  _ good _ teacher,” Rey added with less confidence.

Ben snorted. “Well, judging by your kids, you’re a  _ fantastic _ teacher. While I hardly think Han is to thank for that, I’m glad he’s having fun with his second coming of being a…  _ mentor.  _ He’s still never exactly been father material.”

Rey opened her mouth to object, but Ben plowed on. “He’ll say it himself, just ask him. I used to hear it from both of them all the time, before they thought I could remember - they shouldn’t have ever been parents, they were too busy with their own lives.”

“But they were-”

“They weren’t  _ there. _ Not when I needed them,” Ben shook his head, rattling the ice in his cup. “I need another drink before we get to part two of why I’m not into gambling.” Ben stood, offering his hand to take Rey’s empty cup. “Same drink?”

“Sure,” Rey muttered as she handed over her cup. 

_ Maybe Ben has a point, _ Rey thought as she watched him have to tuck in his massive shoulders to fit down the spiral staircase to the bottom floor of the bus. Han wasn’t exactly…  _ traditional _ in his mentorship, but he was there for her. But it sounded like he wasn’t there for Ben in the same way.

_ How is this even happening? _ Rey thought to herself as she watched the sun still stubbornly refusing to sink all the way. At the start of this day, Ben Solo was nothing more than the asshole print teacher from Chandrila Tech. But there was just…  _ something _ about him - she felt like she had known him for years. 

She had never talked about anything like this with Finn or Rose, let alone Mr. Solo. Despite seeing them nearly every day, there was just something there with her friends that made Rey feel like she had to hide so much of herself and her background. Sure, Ben was still driving her to frustration - but she just…  _ felt _ so much around him.

Ben returned rather quickly, his large hands having no problem managing four cups - he ordered the whiskey same as she did earlier. Handing her two cups, they mirrored each other effortlessly as they combined ice and whiskey, stacking the empty cup underneath.

“Let’s see… to unloading baggage?” Rey questioned, raising her cup.

“I’ll drink to that,” Ben said with a cup-tap. 

They both drank a little longer and more deeply. Ben seemed to give a little shudder, and Rey heard him mumble  _ “Cheap-ass Jim Beam.” _

Rey took another sip almost out of spite. “Oh, don’t be such a snob. It’s bus bourbon in a plastic cup. Besides, you were supposed to finish your story.”

Ben sighed deeply, and took another sip. “Remember the family friend I mentioned? The one I got left with all the time?”

“Sure,” Rey replied.

“His name was Andrew Snoke. He was a retired businessman, owned and bred racehorses.” Ben shuddered, drinking deeply. “When I’d get left at his house, all I’d ever hear or see were the races on TV.  _ Endless _ races, can’t stand to hear them anymore, and these casinos all have them on  _ constantly.” _

Nodding, Rey completely understood. “My foster father - he was the same. Not owning horses, obviously, but he always had the races on. He wasn’t… It wasn’t like my parents, but he was horrible in his own way.”

Ben’s face turned grim. “What did he do?”

“Oh, he never  _ did _ anything, he’d just threaten things all the time. That he’d throw me out, that he wouldn’t pay me when I was working for him, that he wasn’t going to let me start suppressants because he could bring in more customers-”

_ “What,”  _ he practically snarled. 

“He never did it,” Rey assured him. 

“Yeah, that’s what I would always tell myself too,” Ben growled. “But it doesn’t matter. Anyone who would even think those things, even if they don’t act on them - is loathsome. That man - Snoke - he was the same. I don’t know what he had done before, but… Let’s just say he knew. He knew where  _ exactly _ to draw the line to not be accused of anything.”

Rey felt revulsion shudder through her body- “You mean-?”

“Nothing ever happened,” he quickly added. “Well, nothing like  _ that. _ But he got close, a few times.” Ben finished his drink, shaking his head. “Maybe it was for the best that I presented so early. As soon as I started growing, he wanted nothing to do with me anymore.” 

“God, Ben, I’m sorry - look, I don’t know why I even brought this up-”

“No, this is good. I feel like you - I feel like I can tell you  _ anything.” _ Ben said with a slight shake to his voice. “Seriously, everyone should do this with everyone they meet. Just dump absolutely all the baggage up front, so there’s nothing weird or unexpected later.”

Rey gave a weak laugh, sipping her whiskey. “I was thinking the same thing earlier.”

Ben shifted in his seat, leaning closer to her. “Rey, I-”

A blaring announcement from the tour guide interrupted whatever he was about to say. Apparently they were stopping. As the bus slowed to a halt, Rey finally took real stock of her surroundings. 

Every surface seemed to shine, both from orange sunlight and bright, colored lights. The LEDs gave off a cool glow, while the older neons gave off their distinct aura that penetrated through all the other lights. Rey could tell that once it was completely dark, the effect would be spectacular. 

“Well, it’s a capitalist nightmare, but at least it’s a  _ pretty _ capitalist nightmare,” she commented breezily as she snapped a few photos of the sunset reflecting off all the surrounding buildings. “Do you think we’re picking up more people?”

“No, they just said we’re  _ stopping _ -stopping, for a couple hours. I think their business plan is to get the passengers buzzed enough to spend the money on things like  _ that,”  _ Ben nodded toward something behind Rey as he furiously tapped away on his phone.

She didn’t know how she missed it. A massive ferris wheel dominated the skyline behind her, and the bachelor party from the bottom floor was already headed toward it. “Can’t imagine how much that costs,” Rey murmured.

“You don’t have to, I just booked one,” Ben replied, standing to his feet as he offered his hand.

“Ben! You - I - I didn’t - God, that must have cost a fortune-”

He shrugged, his hand still open to her. “Worth it. Join me?”

Wordlessly, Rey smiled and nodded, grasping his massive hand with her own as he gently pulled her to her feet. He gestured in front of him for her to lead the way as he followed closely behind. She felt his fingertips ghosting just at her hips as they went down the narrow spiral stairs together, and a warmth that had nothing to do with the weather outside shuddered through her whole body.

  
It must have been Rey’s imagination that he smelled even  _ better. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm aware that chapter count went up, but they needed to unload, trust each other, and get more wasted. Don't worry, Ben booked a whole cabin on the ferris wheel, and they will most definitely be taking advantage of that...
> 
> Pls bully me more


End file.
